A look inside a Darsonval style modern Violet Wand Ray unit.
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- čas přidán 18. 05. 2015
- In the dawn of the electrical industry the new wondrous electrical energy was presented as a cure for all ailments. There were a wide variety of electro-healing machines being sold, and some of the most stylish are the slightly scary violet ray and violet wand units.
These devices traditionally used an electromagnetic interrupter to drive a high voltage air-cored step-up transformer. The output was applied via glass tubes with a vacuum pulled on them so that they glowed purple as the high voltage electricity coupled through the gasses of the rarefied air inside. The units made a loud buzzing crackling noise and when the glass electrodes were applied to the body, showers of fine fizzing sparks would crackle to the skin accompanied by a strong glow from the tube and a smell of ozone.
These days they are still manufactured and used for completely different reasons. In the "beauty" industry they are claimed to purify, detoxify and rejuvenate skin while stimulating bloodflow. Pretty much the same crap the medical quacks came out with in the beginning. The other major market is electro-fetishism where the scary and tingly effects are popular for kinky fun.
The original units sometimes came with an optional metal rod that could be inserted into the end of the wand to allow the user to hold the output of the coil directly and then apply sparks to the patient from their other hand. These metal rods almost always have a direct electrical path to the mains supply and I strongly recommend they are not used as the only thing between the person holding the rod and a very violent death is luck. Holding the rod in one hand and making contact with a grounded object with another part of the body can result in significant mains current flow depending on how the unit is wired. The traditional glass electrodes couple the output to the recipient with two layers of glass and a conductive vacuum or noble gas and provide good isolation between the output and mains ground.
The modern Chinese units are sold as Darsonval (d'Arsonval) units. A name that indicates the effect of high frequency current passing over a body without causing muscular contraction or sensation. they usually come with a choice of neon or argon filled electrodes that glow orange and purple respectively. The modern ones use a traditional style of coil, but made with modern materials and driven by electronic circuitry instead of a magnetic interrupter.
Note that these devices give off a very high voltage gradient that could cause serious damage to electronic equipment in the vicinity, so they should be kept away from sensitive components and devices. They can also create electrical noise and mains borne transients that can push old and failing wiring over the edge. So use with care if at all. - Věda a technologie
Hi, I am beauty therapist train in Poland in early 70's and have been using this Darsonval ( as we call it ) wand for 25 years for oxygenating and disinfecting skin after facial treatment. Also with the pointed wire i burned out facial spider veins and warts, moles etc...Every european beauty therapy machine have that included as standard to this day. You can oxygenate water with it or with old fashion UV sun lamp, it also kills bacteria on fruit and veg. Funny that I just found out it is Tesla invention. I bought chinese one on Ebay for $9, and it's nothing wrong with it.
Male USB Hole Warmer XXL. For the experienced male holes.
My auntie got me this for my birthday a few days ago
The biggest attachment looks like a comb (a glass comb)
The noise is an added bonus!
Thank you for taking the time to draw it out and explaining it so well
During the negative alternation, the 1uF gets charged to the negitive peak of the mains. It is not discharged. Chances are, the SCR, fires more than once per mains cycle.
As the voltage goes from the negative peak towards the positive peak, the voltage across the SCR builds up.
At some point, the SCR fires and a very large current rushes through the inductor.
The current in the inductor can't stop instantly so the voltage from the end of the 2uF to the end of the 1uF is taken past zero and the current in the inductor falls.
When the current in the inductor attempts to reverse, the SCR turns off.
At this point, the cycle repeats.
Amazing! Every time I look up something I'm interested in I end up finding one of your videos. :)
Just bought an ancient Violet Ray in a nice case and had no idea what it actually was but it looked cool!
After reading about it I dared plugging it in and it's still working.
They probably got a bargain deal on those 220k resistors, wacked 'em in, and said, "eh... close enough."
Hi Big Clive. The Oudin coil is a development of the original design by a guy called d'arsonval. He was a French physician who also dabbled with electricity. He is credited with inventing the d'arsonval moving coil galvanometer and also the thermocouple ammeter.
My mom used a similar device to electrocute -- well, exercise -- her facial muscles to prevent wrinkles. Thanks for the overview of what my mom used to electrocute herself with!
My mom was an esthitician for a few years she used to use one to help with acne
They release argon which gets rid of bacteria & shocks increase blood circulation, so there's truth to that.
It wasn't a quack device as such it did help with several skin conditions and did work at burning out warts and moles. It also does have effects similar to TENS for relieving muscular pain. The issue with them was that at the time they were fairly expensive to make and skin conditions required several treatments, and once good ointments became available it was far more sensible as the patient could apply it themselves.
Aaahhh! I have one of these! An absolutely ancient unit that my grandfather had.
Glad I found this 😂 ive had a few rather fun experiences of these in certain social circles 😉 new style and the crazy vintage ones 😍
I'm pretty sure the bigger market is the kink community. It is quite popular, the most popular electronic toy with "wand" in the name behind The Hitachi Magic Wand.
I love your quack science videos.
Interesting indeed. So close to the older ones of which I have sold many. I must check to see if I have any left.
Edwards High Vacuum used to make a similar hand-held HV probe, used for detecting leakage in High Vac. systems. Years ago I was using one of these to trouble-shoot the vacuum section in a freeze drier, and unbeknownst to me, the lab next door was using a VERY sensitive gas chromatograph (Electron-capture detector - REALLY static sensitive, in the days when FETs would die at the slightest hint of static!) They were wondering why the GC detector had "stopped working completely", and it was not until the Philips technician had to replace ALL the front-end electronics, that the penny dropped (for me - not for them, otherwise I'd have been toast, since the repair cost BIG bucks!)
Came here for research for an electrical play story I am writing on a commission. I needed audio and visual info to be able to describe it in story. Thanks.
The circuit is cool, takes advantage of dimmer switching noise! I think the diode not only discharges the 1uF, it also charges it to -300V so you could dump up to a 600 V pulse into the transformer.
Clive's "Oh, yeah!" sounds like intense Valspeak.
A few years ago, I found a functioning vintage violet ray device at a thrift store for about $12 US and bought it on the spot. It came with the mushroom attachment and one that looks like a rake. Fun to bring out at parties.
Just make sure you treat all metal in the case as potentially being live and never use the metal rod electrode. These units come from before they had discovered electrical safety.
@@bigclivedotcom oh, for sure! The thing scares the bejesus out of me.
So it's basically a low voltage version of a Marx Generator with the diac instead of the spark gap and a transformer hooked on its end...
Quite clever I must say!
The BT152 is a SCR Silicone Controlled Rectifier a very common precursor to the triac. A rectifier that only conducts (forward) when the gate signal allows it.
These were sold by Sears Roebuck marketed as "Faraday Batteries". You got wooden box, a battery, a resistor intensity setting dial and essentially an ignition coil from a car, and those glass UV wands. I came across one in a thrift store, and I left it there too.
Seth B that's interesting to know
It would be cool if he talked more about Tesla.
One of the non quacky uses for these things is to bring them close to a high pressure hard to start ion laser tube - the intense RF field helps to excite the gas when the regular starter cannot convince the tube to ignite. Don't put it near the anode though :)
HIS SARCASM WHILE DEMONSTRATING THE WAND BROUGHT ME TO HEAVEN AND BACK
Great video! Quack medical stuff is often fascinating. A few decades later, after electricity became "old hat", the quacks seized on radioactivity, putting radium and thorium in everything from toothpaste to "personal massagers".
This modern version of an Oudin coil reminds me of one I have used for finding leaks in vacuum systems, and for burning out shorts in TV picture tubes back in the day of CRTs. It had a knob on the bottom to "tune" the unit by applying pressure to the vibrating magnetic armature at the end of the coil. Think the one I had was made by Cenco, a scientific instrument company.
Thanks for clearing that up quickly ;p
my dad buys old violet wand kits, refurnishes and retrofits the electronics for resale :) They have a ton of attachments and initially are powered by attaching them to the light socket :/
I see a voltage doubler in that circuit. The 1uf cap gets the peak negative of the mains not just discharged to zero..
I was delighted to find this rather early teardown video of yours, Clive. I use one of these with a metal electrode to check for leaks in my discharge tubes when they are being evacuated. The arc jumps to any leak immediately. Well, it's good to know that the output is referenced to the mains although I've never had any desire to touch it! I've often wondered what's inside, and now I know without having to rip mine apart. You save is all a lot of money at your own expense, Clive. Thanks as always -Peter 😁
I have this exact unit, arrived today from China (impressively, in 7 days). I'm well aware of its enthusiastic use by the BDSM crowd (even seen an ancient one used in a public setting at a club - eek) but I bought mine simply to disinfect skin and keep zits at bay. Some aestheticians suggest it can be used for "skin lifting" but I guess bigclive sees it as quackery, and he's entitled to his opinion - I really do think it helps acne, though.
Nice to hear a Scottish voice on CZcams :) Thanks for the very interesting video!
+LJ K It's not total quackery as it has a strong sterilising effect on the skin and also has a very nice prickling sensation.
But don't use it near anything electronic as it could potentially damage it.
+bigclivedotcom There is a "mainstream" version of this with a tiny inbuilt bulb head called the Dermawand, which I used to have, but died :)
I've found with that, and this newer D'arsonval ebay China unit, that it makes monitors flicker/crazy stuff happen to electronics so I guess I better use it in (electronic) isolation!
Awesome!
OMG Clive - just looked this product up on ebay . Quote " helps with hair loss" " Note the product will create MMM sound during use and lead to slight hurt feeling when touching skin - it is a normal phenomenon" Ha ha ha haNo doubt when treating gingivitis using the tongue electrode! Note This is the Professional version of the kit!Then a bloke called Jack rang trying to sell is solar pannels. Wife answered phone. He asked if she was younger than 75. We laughed so much my son came down and asked whats the matter. What a tonic!
Clive - I think that the variable component at 7:23 is simply a wire-wound variable resistor of a very common construction; I doubt that it would have significant inductance, compared with that of the spark coil itself, to effect any control other than by its changing resistance.
Just FYI, the quack medical industry isn't the only reason they're still sold, electroplay is a fairly popular kink
Holy crap I freaked out when you said now I'm going to take it to bits I thought you said bed
+nivlac Maybe he meant both. . Giggity.
That's a terrifying mental image, and I need to go bleach my brain now. :D
these things were terrifying when I first learned about them, and they're still fucking terrifying today.
in the old ones sometimes the secondairy windings is not connected to anything on 1 side and to the neon on the other side. and i use the metal pipe ;)
circuit reminds me of the circuit for the solid-state exciter coils.
We need more stuff like that with exposed contacts. Let natural selection work.
damn clive, lookin good
Baby Tesla Coil!I bought one at a garage sale.First tube was a vaginal electrode.
It may stimulate blood flow in the skin and increase hair growth!
Speaking as a man, reading about using a "vaginal electrode" with this made me clench my entire pelvis.
Interesting thing - I've set up my oscilloscope to see the output of these things. (To all: need I say, don't connect these directly!) What's intersting is that as I turn up the potentiometer on mine, the number of pulses-per-AC-cycle changes. If you listen closely, as you turn it up, you can hear a few 'sudden changes,' these correspond to these pulse counts changing. (This is clustered near the bottom of the scale). Note: 110V version
"All very stylish and slightly deadly..." :D
Fascinating what people used to believe in. Interesting device though and certainly worth messing about with.
I'm not sure what my wife would say if something looking like that arrived though :-)
On the negative cycle, the top end of the 1uF capacitor would be charged more negative, so when the positive cycle triggers, you would get double the voltage
***** Hmm, there's a thought. That makes the slightly haphazard SCR trigger circuit a bit weirder.
Don't forget the BDSM crowd love these things,not just for quacks
LOL OMG
Martin O'Donnell Yup, and they often use the original retro units with the metal wand attachment because they really don't have a clue how dangerous they can actually be.
bigclivedotcom Some of them do. I have a friend who has gotten several designs burned into her skin intentionally with a violet wand (in a BDSM setting).
I assumed that the main reason they were around was BDSM because I've never seen them used outside of those circles.
+Martin O'Donnell I guess so...On EBAY the violet wands are on the same thread as vibrators, D-rings etc... weird.
+Max Richie oh yeah they were originally quackery bullshit, but the only reason they're still made these days is sex.
Those things have got to have some effect on the body. I once had a mole removed with igh voltage. Maybe those are good for dissolving built up minerals in joints or opening up cell walls so they can better clean themselves.
We us electricity to electroplate metals, maybe those can be used to do something to the body that it wouldn't have done itself. It's no cure all, but if used intelligently, maybe it could be good for something.
I want to use one in a costume to light my face up with sparks and flashes. How can I go about doing that ¿
Edit: Will it ignite black powder and / or run on twelve volts ¿
In the early days,mains was ungrounded,you only got a shock if you touched both wires.Maybe this is why its secondary is not isolated from mains.
Hi my friend, very good video!! Thanks for take time to explain everything about the mechanical model. I have just one Question: what are the specifications for the capacitor you change? and it will work with 110Vlts or 220Vlts? (Please Excuse my bad English, i am still learning)
Cool! Makes me wanna build one kinda!
Graham Hart The output transformer is a nightmare to build, since it has thousands of turns of fine wire and runs at extremely high voltage. the earliest tended to saturate the coils in pitch or wax, but the newer ones vacuum impregnate them with resin. Between that and the specialist glass discharge tubes you would be a lot cheaper just buying one to experiment with.
where to by the output HV transformer for this device Darsoval unit) if you know send me email please at chbonnici@gmail.com. Thank you
My folks had a vintage one a loooong time ago, and if we managed to find where it was hidden ( I am hoping they hid it because I daresay it was pretty dangerous, and not 'other reasons') we discovered if you appled it to old gilt picture frames you would get a pretty spectacular effect.
I assume the highest possible voltage getting whacked through the primary, is 440v? That being the 220 of the mains at peak and 220 on the capacitor added together ?
It is like an induction coil in a car.
Pfff, I loved this channel even before you broke out the feathers and pickles.
I almost picked up an old induction coil violet ray rig a few years back - figured it would make a nice aesthetic addition to the lab - until I saw what they wanted for it! Yup, violet ray quackery has made an incredible (baffling really) resurgence here, their practitioners a fringe overlap crowd of free energy, Tesla was an alien, contrails, and just about anything else - vehemently refusing to listen to anything approaching logic.
In my opinion a mains referenced conductive electrode might not be all that bad of a thing - Darwin and all..
On the other hand, with one born every minute - there would undoubtedly be a very lucrative market for true "old school" reproduction induction coil units (iron wire cores, pitch insulation, etc.) despite the time consuming construction.
By "Lab" do you mean 'Sex Dungeon' ;)
5:03 that one is for ummm internal use...... yeah....
S&M people are mad keen on these! (don't ask me why)
my old model had a vibrator (transistors were too pricey, tubes too big) and was, still is, fully main insulated... wait, you have the same model.
That old one is a very interesting and collectible antique, I personally find the old quack devices fascinating. My favorite of the old quack devices is definitely the tobacco smoke enema, where the term "blowing smoke up my ass" came from.
Yes indeed. What better way to bring someone back to life than with a pair of smoking ass-bellows.
+compactc9 well, they are still used, but now as kind of eStim by kinkers.Only quack part of them was that old ones didn't had stable frequencies, created a lot of noise and high voltage and were presented as panacea.They are good as some sensory treatment or stimuli, that may dull pain or cause exhilarating sensations, nothing more
+compactc9 Cigar in your sunny cavity was actually being used during state of the art surgical procedures in the dark times (XIX century), so it wasn't only "quack" thing ;)
why do I seem to get a strangely warm fuzzy feeling that this would play Hell with my pacemaker??? Possibly turn it into a jump starter???
So its basically a small induction coil right? Like how you can use a incandescant dimmer as an ignition coil driver.
This is really good for acne, I know because it cleared up my acne by killing the bacteria through the oxygen produced, it stops the breakouts before they become a huge problem. This beauty device which is available as a salon treatment and no folks do not stick it up their butts. They do work and you should be able to get a ozone smell when it is turned on.
O3 is ozone, not oxygen. And yes, ozone is applied to de-odorize public restrooms as well.
I think that the variable device was intended to act as a variable resistance though by its method of construction it will have a small inductnce which is probably insignificant at 50 Hz.
the right-hand diode also acts as as a voltage doubler,
When pound notes were green, back in the 1960's, and not about to equate in value to the dollar, we persuaded our then chemistry teacher to purchase one of these kits from a local Oxfam shop. He had been enthusing about the speed of chemical reactions being augmented by Ultra Violet light.When we got it back to the lab it didn't do anything, so we "re-wired" it and connected said apparatus to a rather large Rhumkorff coil. With that purple spurted from every orifice, and the lab technician, having her afternoon cup of tea with a colleague, thought we should go and "play" somewhere else. Happy days!
Did you ever test the frequency on the primary of this device?
Thanks for explaining the circuit!
If it is only 50Hz high voltage. Why didn't it excited your nerves, i.e. shocked, you when you touched it?
Could you use this for ESD testing? That's the only real use I could see to use one of these. but even then.. It's pretty dodgy.
Just subbed today, totally loving the content! Showed this video to my QPP and now she hates me cause she wants one 😜 Of to EvilBay I go!
I wonder, how feasible would it be to fullwave rectify the input to give 100Hz? And would it still work with an isolated supply?
It needs the polarity change to create a higher voltage differential in the driver circuit. You could possibly run it on an isolated supply, but the unit would cause a high voltage differential between the isolated side and ground, possibly defeating the isolation by causing internal arcing.
bigclivedotcom Aww bawls, I thought that might be the case with the rectifier arrangement because of the voltage doubler. Read about that little dinger further down the comments after I posted mine. I suppose if she chooches right out the box, no point messing with her.
Thanks for the reply :-)
+azayles QPP=Quadratic Permutation Polynomial?
7:13 So a violent wand basically ;).
The adjuster is actually a wirewound variable resistor. These were common in antique radios. The resistance wire is wound on an insulator, not iron like a variac. You can test it with an ohmmeter to verify this.
+Fred Yearian Actually..... A wire wound variable resistor will by its nature also be a variable inductor... think about it... then if you still aint got it, think about the symbol for an inductor. Its the inductance that is doing the work in this AC circuit... Imagine if you hooked up 240v DC and tried to use it as a 'variable resistor'
haha for eyes because its eye shaped. you Always make me laugh. love your vids keep it up ;)
I don't understand electronics- Could you tell me if the modern ones are just as good? Thanks
I'm not so sure about the efficacy of their intended use, butt... I do see possibilities for more unusual activity. Especially the use of the metal stimulator, to spice things up.
The transformer part looks like it was produced 80 years ago.Btw, Clive, did you ever ran by the crystal radio receivers? (industrially produced analog of fox-hole radio)
I'd love to pick up a new one of these, to use with my old tubes (I collect things like Geissler tubes and I consider these to be similar), but I can't find one for a low price. Where did you find one cheap enough that disassembly was an option? Edit: Ah, eBay. All the ones I can find there cost at least 35 pounds or so.
Tubes for every part of the body? Oh, yes, some manufacturers made over 60 electrodes. My largest set (German, circa 1950s) has 28 different tubes... including four different glass colors, just in case you believe in colored light therapy.
These aren't technically quack any more; in the beauty therapy, they do exactly what they're claimed to do: increase blood flow to the skin. The quackery was where the old sets' instruction booklets suggested that this increased blood flow would cure diseases, because all diseases, they claimed, were caused by insufficient circulation.
Lack of proper circulation and eliminations do definitely contribute to dis-ease and eventual disease. This is part of why exercise is so good and necessary for the body, as it increases both.
There is more than one way to skin a cat though.
I've noticed that many of my fellow males, have a very hard time perceiving/thinking holistically and in parallel (which more women tend to have a much easier time with), and are so linear logical, step by step analytical, which leads to definite "blind spots" and narrowed perception.
The trick is to combine the best of both worlds, and to develop a very thick corpus collosum. Bruce Lee's famous advice of "be like water" really should be changed to something more like, "be like male and female in one". Both linear logical analysis, and gestalt/holistic/parallel type perceiving have their respective strengths and weaknesses, but combined, balanced, integrated, and then merged they lead to genius and pioneering level perception.
Get cracking on thickening up those corpus collum's brohems. Learning and playing music, using Hemi-Sync, deep meditation, working on problem solving, etc are some things that help. For guys, hanging out with a lot of women, a lot, can help some. Listen to their experiences of intuition, of perceiving nonphysical realities, etc and consider that maybe they are just perceiving differently than you, rather than only being just completely deluded, stupid, ignorant, or the like.
Nothing more "quack" than being stuck in one, narrowed mode and having a thin, weakly developed C.C. We will eventually discover that pioneering genius types like Tesla, Einstein, some of the pioneers in Quantum mechanics, etc were folks that were just unusually integrated between left and right brain hemispheres and equally in touch with their imaginations and feelings as well as their logical, analytical "Spock" sides, which is what led to their creativity, genius, and ability to pioneer. Some of that is born (probable potential), and some of that is developed. But we all can improve a jot here and a jot there.
Best approach to life and to information is to be simultaneously open and skeptical minded. Hold beliefs, even mainstream and well accepted scientific based ones, lightly. Question and test everything, but don't think you or others automatically know what's true or not.
This thing literally lessen my hairfall after 2x of use! Spider veins are less now, my face are so tight and smaller pores and lastly the keloid on my legs looks less prominent now after 4x of usage. I love this guy but disregarding something that you haven’t used or tried is annoying.
When you applied it to beard, i thought "uhm. If there are arcs, can they burn hairs? that'd be something even more effective than conventional shaving"
Couldn't help but think of those prostate warmers from the same time of electrical-miracle-medical-cures.
Nova Light I'll be covering the USB powered "Male hole warmer" in another video. (No, seriously, it's available on ebay right now.)
bigclivedotcom oh this I've got to see :)
When he touched the glass, I jumped
Is there something like a surge-protector that can be used to isolate these from the ring-mains, (to protect delicate computer equipment) ?
Not really,since a lot of the energy is transmitted wirelessly at high voltage.
Just a quick note on the thyrister cycle. An assumption would be the thyristor would turn on and remain on for a 1/2 cycle. This is most likely incorrect with the inductor of the primary transformer and cap forming an LC circuit. Instead of switching on and remaining on for a 1/2 cycle, it is much more likely, it will switch on for 1/2 an LC cycle and when the polarity reverses, the thyrister will recover and the trigger will repeat many times on the AC 1/4 cycle voltage rise. The coil with it's distributed capacitance would then resonate, then be spiked again, much like a Tesla coil. It would be interesting to sniff the emissions from a safe distance with a scope to look for the RF emissions. If you get a chance, I would like you to re-visit this circuit and possibly measure the pulse rate and ringing frequency. From similar circuits, I would expect the strike frequency during 1/4 of the AC cycle to be in the audiable range and the RF ringing to be in the 10's to 100's of kilohertz range.
The diode and cap on the left are across the mains so the cap will charge up to POS 300V
The diode and cap on the RIGHT are also ACROSS THE MAINS and the cap will charge up to NEG 300V
ALSO I agree with isetech about the circuit firing many times during the 50Hz resulting in a much higher frequency than 50Hz. The old spark buzzer in the antique is similar to the Ford Model A and T ignition coils and probably similar to the the old "spark Gap" radio transmitters from the 1900's
ALSO this is not too dissimilar to the decorative dancing light globes that are available everywhere.
BOB L
How would one go about slowing that down, if required?
I thought from the thumbnail and preview that this entire video was black and white.
1:28 the neon attachment looks like it should be a rubberized anode cap for a CRT tube, would this work?
High voltage, low current, moderately high frequency.
Clive: Were you seeing any phosphenes (flashes of light) when you applied that to your eyes with them closed?
No I didn't.
I really fancy Big Clive
How could one not?
I wonder if it would be useful to control fleas on my dog.
I'm pretty sure they are used in the bedroom too
So if I replace the 20K resistor with a higher value (say 50k) then the capacitors will charge to a higher voltage and the unit will become a bit nippier? Anything dangerous to watch out for if I do this? Asking for a "friend"... ;)
It might work, but could be a bit unpredictable. If the voltage goes too high it could damage the coil.
Well that worked! Changed my plan and replaced the 220k resistor in parallel with the pot (which in my unit was only a 75k) with 3 x 470k 1/4W in parallel. Coil is holding so far...
Have you done any work with sterilizing UV light?
Been watching your videos for some time now. I recently acquired an old Renu Life Violet Ray box which does not work. Was surprised to see that you had a video a similar type of unit. The one I have does not have the "variac". This one is 120v unit. It has a set of points that vibrate depending on how the mechanical adjusting screw is set. The big wax paper cap in this one is obviously bad; there is a big pile of wax under it. How did you come up with the value of 220nf for your replacement cap? I used a cheap capacitance meter on this one and got a value of about 2nf. Close to posting a video about what is inside this one. Would like to get it functional before posting - if possible.
I chose the replacement value by experimenting with different values. If your capacitor has failed it may be affecting the ability of the capacitance meter to test it.
Did you have any luck with your unit? There's not really much to the old devices, is there?
The variable choke inside the antique - what does it actually consist of and how is it built?
Is it in principle a long choke with a movable contact - long enough that the impedence can get so high that no AC current / AC power will go through? Is this linear?
Sure enough, youtube latched on to the title, and there's quacks in the suggested videos hawking these things. I wonder if there are any X-Rays being produced? It's basically a Crookes tube on the end, but using you as the ground.
+stonent It's a weirdly-shaped plasma ball with interchangeable tips.
"oh this is kinda pleasing actually" that's the real reason those things are still around ;)
It is indeed. Partly for the therapy purposes and also for the naughty applications.
... an "Odin" coil... because one wrong move and the Valkyries will take you to meet Odin in Valhalla.
The Juventus unit - 'Not very stylish.'?
Au contraire - IMHO it's _stylish AF._ :D
Hi Clive - Enjoyed the video on your Antique Violet Ray. Just purchased a similar Antique Ray machine. Could you tell me the voltage rating for the replacement Capacitor you installed in your unit?
+AlanK I'm pretty sure the one I used was a standard X2 interference suppression capacitor. Probably rated to 630VDC.
what would happen if you connected the primary of the transformer in series with a beefy capacitor across the mains?
Not much. It requires quite a fast rising voltage.
fair enough, i thought it could be made into an ultra simple tesla coil but maybe not